Motor sleigh



Oct. 9, 1923. y 1,470,087 E. E. LESHER MOTOR SLEIGH Fil`ed Jan. 23 1923 2 SheetsfSheet l flchtet* Oc't. A9, 1923.

- 1,470,087 E. E. LESHER MOTOR SLEIGH Filed Jan. 23, 1925 2 sheets-Sheet 2 EuqE/VE E. Z55/ff@ l Gttoz nu@ Patented Qct. 9, 1923.

UNITED STATES y Waas? vPJr-1E.NT"carica.l

EGENE n. LESHER, oraannocx, NORTH DAKOTA.l

1 s v Moron SLEIGH.

Application ined January 23, 192s. seria; No. 614,491.

To all whom t may concern.'

. Be it known that I, EUG-ENE E. LEsHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Braddock, in the county of Emmons and State of North Dakota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Motor Sleighs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to motor driven sleighs, and the main object is to provide a practical and efficient type of sled in which an air propeller is used to move the device along on its runners. Another object isv to provide means whereby the sled is enabled to travel either on a hard surface or in deep snow. F urtherr objects will be described in the course of the following specification, will be specifically pointed out in the appended claims, and are embodied in the device illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the sleigh.

Fig. 2 is a top or plan view of the sleigh.

Fig. 3 is a front end view of the sleigh.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail section on the line 4-4 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail sectional view on the line 5-5 in Fig. 1, one side portion of the bob being broken away.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the line 66l in Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a fractional detail view as seen when looking in the direction of the line arrows 7-7 in Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings more particularly and by reference characters, 8 designates a base or frame upon which is secured a body 9. The engine (not shown) is housed in the front end of the body, and drives a propeller 10, which,'by its action on the air, drives the sleigh forward. A guard 11, consisting of a series of parallel b-ars, is secured to the sleigh, immediately in front of the propeller, to prevent the latter from injuring persons standing near it.

The rear end of the sleigh is supported on a bob made up primarily of runners 12 having knees 13. connected by a shaft 14 which carries base brackets 15, in such a manner that the runners are free to tiltably rock on the shaft center. The runners 12 are preferably secured to the front part of the sleigh by chains 16 in the usual manner. The front ends of the runners are con nected by a shaft 17 on which is tiltably mounted the front end of what may be termedi'a toboggan or deck 18, rvvhoserear end is adjustable up and down, so that when they sleigh is to be run in deep snow the deck can be lowered so as to help support the sleigh and take much of its weight off of the narrow runners 12, whichwould otherwise sinkinto the snow.

I The front bob is constructed of elements 12, 13, 17 and 18, which are similar to those of the rear bob, but is otherwise of slightly diierent design.

"Near the rear ends of the `decks 18 are provided setsk of transversely slidable bars 19, which are engageable at their outer extremities in perforations 20, in the knees 13, while their inner ends are spring held outwardly by springs 21. A pair of levers 22, are pivotally` secured together at'one end, as at 23, while their other endsare so secured tothe bars 19, that when clamped together they will pull the bars in and release them from the knee perforations 20, and thus allow the deck to be adjusted, as desired.

The axle 24, of the front bob, is pivotally mounted, as at 25, to a casting or post 26 which is rotatable in the floor 8. At the upper end of the post 26 is provided a seg'- mental rack 27, meshing with an idler pinion 28, which in turn meshes with and is driven by a bevel pinion 29 on a steering wheel shaft or column 30, the object of the idler pinion being to cause the front bob to be steered in the same direction as the steering wheel is turned.

Auxiliary steering means are provided in connection with the front bob and consist of a pair of blades 31 which operate through I slots 32 in the front runners 12 and are pivotally secured (at their front ends) thereto as at 33. The rear ends of the blades 31 are connected by links 34 to the outer ends of a pair of arms 35 secured on a shaft 36 journaled `in the front bob knees 13. Said shaft 36 may, if so desired, be sectional, the sections being connected by sockets or socket portions 37 (see Fig. 5), so that the blades 31 can be properly actuated even though the runners are not in their relatively normal positionsthere being enough play in the shaft to accommodate such action. The shaft 36 is also journaled, atl

its middle, in an extension 38 of the post 26, and is provided, at this point, with an arm 39, which extends up through an arc shaped slot in the base 8. A cable 40 connects the upper extremity of the arm 39 with a foot lever 4l, it being first passed through an eye 42 on the upper end of the post 26 so that the cable pull on the arm 39 will always be in an axial direction to the center of the post.

The operation and use of the device Will be briefly described as follows: When the sleigh is to 'be run on hard ground, roadsV or ice, the decks 18 are in the raised'positions, as indicated in the drawings. lIhre steering is accompli-shed in the usual way, yby turning4 the steering wheel. lf, however, the front runner-s l2 do not sufficiently take hold then the operator pushes down on the foot llever 4l, causing the blades 3l to project below the runners and effectively engage the ground thereunder, lhen the sleigh is to he run over deep, snow, the decks 18 are irst lowered, in the manner above indicated, so that a larger bearing surface will begiven to the sleigh. The steering .operationrwill of course be the same regardless of the/.positions .of the decks relative Ato the runners. f

It is understood that suitable modifical tions may be made in the gene-ral design and Having now therefore fully shown and described my invention what I claim to be new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A supporting bob, for a sleigh of the fharacter described, consisting of a pair of spaced parallel runners, a` wide supporting deck positioned between said runners, said deck being pivotally secured at its front end to the front ends of the runners, and means.

,of said deck being verticallyadjustable with i respect tothe rear ends of the runners.

3. A. support-ing bob, for sleigh, consisting of a pair of spaced parallel runners,a wide supporting deck positioned between said runners, and secured at its front 4end thereto, and spring held securing members adapted to secure the rear end of the deck in various vertical positions with respect to said runners.y u Y In testimony whereot1 I aiX my signature,

EUGENE E. LESHER. .i 

